Crazy Maybe (32 page)

I immediately
set out in search for and found several young ladies who were all former foster children in the Rhoades’ household.  They have agreed to appear here with me today to share their stories, memories and take questions from the audience.  This show is being aired live for a couple of reasons.  One, because this type of issue needs to be brought to light, and two, because neither party will have any claim that this show has been edited to sensationalize it.”

So far, so good.  Andi’s holding up, even though she’s now biting on her nails and occasionally her lip.  I know she’s waiting to see who the girls are but Lindsay has purposely kept them off camera during her introduction.  All
the attention is on her right now.

“My first guest
is Maria Gonzalez,” Andi’s sharp intake of breath quickly draws my eyes to her and I notice she doesn’t exhale.

Lindsay continues, “Maria is nineteen and student at the University of Georgia in Athens, majoring in veterinary medicine.  Ms. Gonzalez was a foster child in the Rhoades’ home at the same time Andi Morgan was there.  Thank you for coming today, Ms. Gonzalez.”

“Is that her, Andi?”  I ask softly.  Andi’s nod is barely perceptible.

“Thank you for inviting me, Lindsay,” Maria replies.  She’s obviously uncomfortable onstage but there’s an also air of determination about her.

“Maria, do you remember Andi Morgan?”

“Yes, I remember everything about her,” Maria answers with a warm smile.  I hear Andi sniffle and look over at her to see her face covered in tears. 

“Maria, I’m going to ask the hard questions because that’s what the public demands to know.  Are the allegations made by Andi Morgan against Speaker Rhoades and his wife true?”

The cameraman zooms in on Maria, capturing her facial expressions, body language and overall demeanor very well.  The analysts will have a field day with this shot and the cameraman knows it.

“Yes.  What Andi said is true.  I am the girl he was raping when she stabbed him.  She had been taking care of me because I’d been so sick.  She came back in to check on me that night and when she saw what he was doing to me, she stabbed him to help me,” Maria’s voice quivers and tears escape her eyes, but she doesn’t back down and she doesn’t look away from Lindsay.

The audience gasps loudly.  Lindsay smiles at her and holds her hand in solidarity.  Letting her know she’s not alone and that she understands how hard it must be to declare this on live television to a cynical nation.

“Maria, there’s something I want you to see.  Something that wasn’t aired on the original interview with Ms. Morgan.  I don’t think she’ll mind you seeing it now, though.”  Maria nods and Lindsay instructs her producers to queue the piece.

The footage is of Andi, telling Lindsay that she’s afraid Maria hates her – for not protecting her, for not staying in the room with her that night, and for leaving her alone when she was put in the psychiatric hospital.  Andi is crying on the clip but on the live show, Maria is sobbing.  She can barely catch her breath for a second and Andi moves to the floor and puts her hand on the television screen, as if she’s giving Maria her strength to continue.

It must work because Maria catches her breath and quickly composes herself.  Maria looks directly into the camera, and from Andi’s position in the floor, they are now eye to eye as Maria says, “I have never, NEVER, hated Andi.  I love her and I miss her to this day.  I’ve never blamed her for anything.  She was as much a victim of the Rhoades’ as I was.”

Andi leaves her hand on Maria’s face as her head drops and tears flow freely from her eyes to the floor.  I move behind her, wrap my arms around her and hold her as she sobs.  I whisper words of comfort and love, restating what Maria said and telling her what an impact she made on that young girl’s life.

One by one, Lindsay brings out five more young ladies who were all in the Rhoades’ care and every one of them corroborate Andi’s story.  Everyone young woman gives an account, with specific details only someone in their position could know, and validates what Andi has shared.  Her face is filled with relief that they’re willing to speak out and amazement at the strength these young ladies show in describing their molestation.

As Lindsay makes her closing remarks, she said there is more evidence against Speaker Rhoades.  There are more girls who were unwilling to be interviewed on television but who will testify against him.  She said the evidence she has uncovered is irrefutable and she will gladly turn a copy of it over to the FBI. 

The show ends and five minutes later, Andi’s cell phone rings but the caller ID says “unknown.”  She gives me a tentative look and takes the call anyway.  I can tell immediately that the caller is Maria.  For the next thirty minutes, Andi and Maria talk nonstop to catch up on each other’s lives.  Andi ends the call after giving Maria our address and telling her she wants Maria to come see her and meet me.

“Lindsay gave her my number.  I can’t wait to see her again and for you to meet her!”  Andi is so excited she’s nearly skipping through the house towards me. She jumps into my arms, kisses me and telling me she loves me.  “Now I have to go get ready for my song tonight!”

She races off towards the bedroom before I can say anything.  She hasn’t told me what the song is or what she’s doing that’s she’s so excited about.  I cringe every time I think of it because I know it’ll make her more of a target.  All I can do is go with her and never leave her side.

“Andi,” I call after her and she surprisingly stops.  “You know it’s hard to prosecute a sitting congressman, much less the Speaker of the House.  Not because he’s above the law but because of the ties he has.  He plays golf with the President of the United States for crying out loud.  Nothing about this will be easy.”

“You’re right.  But more people than not
know
now.  They know he did it.  They know what kind of man he is now.  He won’t be able to hurt little girls anymore.  That’s what matters.”

LUKE

Holy hell.  What the hell is she thinking?  There’s no way in hell I’m letting her do this!

“Andi.  Not just no.  But
hell
no. 
No-fucking-way
no.
I-will-kidnap-you-again
no.”  And to my intimidating bass voice and unyielding fighting stance, my sexy little vixen just smiles sweetly and walks right around me.

“Mitch!  I need the main spot light moved to center stage.  It’s a little too far to the left for me,” she calls out to the owner of The Beta Room, who is also playing the lighting manager tonight since his original one is out sick.

“How about that, Andi?”

“That’s great! Thank you!”  She’s moving about the stage, getting things set up exactly where she needs them to pull off her song.  And they’re both completely ignoring me even though I’m following on her heels and breathing heavy down her neck.  But not in a good way.

“Andi!”

“Yes, dear?”  She says this absently, but she knows damn well what she’s doing.  She’s making me crazy.

“You’re killing me, Andi.  You know this song will enrage him.  You know you’re just calling him out for a fight!”

“That’s the plan,” she responds in her sing-song voice.

“And just how, exactly, do you plan on handling him?”

She has the nerve to turn to me, smile even wider, and say, “That’s what I have
you
for, Luke.  So I don’t have to worry about man-handling him.”

So, should I be flattered or offended by that comment? 

Is she being for real or is she being sarcastic and playing on my need to protect her?

How in the hell did I get so whipped by this beautiful creature?

Shane is sitting at our usual table in the empty club and he’s clearly amused by this whole exchange.  When I turn to glare at him for not helping me convince her to change her song, he quickly hides his smile with his hand but his eyes are still all crinkled up.  And his fucking shoulders are jumping from trying to hold in his laughter.

“Just let her go, man. You’re wasting your breath.  She’s not going to change her mind.  Will’s coming in a little while so the three of us will watch her all night.  He won’t get to her.  There’s no fucking way he can get past us.”

Shane’s trying to make me feel better but I just don’t have a good feeling about it.  I didn’t have a good feeling when she first had that gleam in her eye after choosing the song, but refusing to tell me what it was.  Now that she’s been forced to reveal it to me, it’s even worse.

“Shane, man, I don’t like it.  At all.  The only way I found out what the song even was ahead of time is because I demanded to come with her today.  She tried to send me to the damn grocery store claiming to need
tampons!
She put on this big elaborate show about not being able to leave the bathroom.  She was going to sneak away and just leave me a note that it was a false alarm.  I went back in the house to ask her what the name on the box was again and caught her in the kitchen writing the damn note.”

Shane doubles over in laughter.   I’m sure he’s picturing Andi, locked in the bathroom and screa
ming at me through the door how she needs tampons
right now
.  But she can’t come out to go get them herself and I have to help her.  She
needs
my help.  Sneaky little sexy vixen. Shane regains his composure to speak but that shit-eating-grin never leaves his face.

“Good thing your memory
’s shit, huh?”

“Yeah.  Funny, man,” I say as I take a swig of my longneck bottle.  I’ll need a couple more of these tonight by the time Andi finishes her song.

Soon the club is packed to the maximum occupancy and Mitch is turning people away at the door.  There are so many reporters here tonight but Mitch wouldn’t let them bring their huge cameras in with them.  So a lot of people are using their camera phones to record pieces for their segments.  This should make for an interesting news night.

The DJ just announced that Andi’s up next and my senses are on full alert. 
I scan the room, trying to take everyone in but there are just
so many people
crowded in here to see Andi tonight.  The girls are in the back with her, guarding her dressing room door and watching for strangers, while she gets dressed for her show.  The lights dim and the DJ announces Andi.

The song she picked for tonight, and especially for Jackson Rhoades, is
Gunpowder and Lead
,
by Miranda Lambert.  She’s singing a song about a woman who plans to shoot the man who’s been abusing her.  Great.  Just fucking great.  This will go over well. 

She walks out on the stage with the spotlight directly on her and she’s wearin
g a damn straight jacket.  Her arms are wrapped around herself in a giant hug and she looks uncomfortable in the white jacket. 

She starts singing, the beginning of the song is pretty slow and her eyes are darting around like she’s…well, crazy.  Her eyes suddenly stop and linger in one area a little too long to be a coincidence.  I know she’s spotted him in the crowd from the subtle change in her voice and the look in her eyes. 
Both changes happened when she hit the part about them both going to hell.  Yeah, she found him in the crowd alright.

When the tempo picks up on the next line, she bursts out of the jacket and throws it to the opposite side of the stage.  As most of the crowd watches the straight jacket fly through the air and land on the stage directly across from her, she moves in the opposite direction and picks up a toy shotgun.  She cocks it, walks to the edge of the stage and aims it directly at, none other than,
the bastard
.

While she
’s doing that, she’s singing and telling him that she’s ready to fight and he, in fact, has never seen her act crazy before.  But she’s showing him that he’s about to catch a glimpse of that very thing and he should be shaking in his damn boots at the thought of it. 

A video of Andi starts playing on the flat screens around the club.  It’s a montage of all the headlines from the smear campaign that was waged against her, including the pictures of her in the psychiatric hospital. 
One story after the other is displayed all around the club, every single one a complete lie about Andi.  Slamming her for stabbing her poor foster father, berating her for being admitted to the psychiatric ward, and several tabloid stories about how she’s really an alien and has a love child with Elvis.

She continues to dance around the stage, singing and pointing the toy shotgun at Rhoades damn near every time the word
‘shotgun’
comes up in the song.  The crowd is going wild and cheering her on, unaware that Jackson is here, in disguise again.

She changes the lyrics when she gets to the bridge of the song.

He locked me up, but now I’m stronger

He won’t hurt them any longer!

The five girls from the live Lindsay Blair show walk up behind Andi onstage, all carrying toy shotguns and all dancing and singing as her backup.  The crowd goes crazy with screaming, whistling and cheering.  The ladies are all looking at
the bastard
but he doesn’t move.  He’s probably trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible.  To others, it may appear to be part of the show.  I know it’s not.

As the song ends, the video ends with a clip of Lindsay Blair encouraging anyone who’s being abused to tell someone. 
She advises them to tell anyone, just get help and get out of that situation.  After Lindsay’s clip ends, Andi yells into the microphone,
“Save yourself and help someone else!”
 

The six ladies all exit the stage and I watch the bastard slowly lower his glass to the table and stand up.  He’s looking at the backstage door so I slowly get up and make my way closer to the door.  I want to be ready if he makes his way towards Andi or any of those young ladies who were so brave to come forward.

Rhoades sees me and stops to stare at me for a minute or two. It’s an obvious showdown but there’s no way in hell he will beat me.  He’s fucking lucky to still have his head attached to his body right now.  The only reason I haven’t jerked him up is because I can’t protect Andi from a federal penitentiary.  I cross my arms over my chest and grind my teeth from the firm set of my jaw. 

He must sense I’m teetering on a thin edge of sanity myself because he averts his eyes from mine and quickly makes his way to the exit.  I know the war is far from over but I can’t help but feel good at the small battles we’ve won here tonight.
  The thought of what those young ladies went through at his hands makes me want to follow him out to the parking lot and drag him behind the building.  Someone needs to show him what it’s like to feel helpless.

Andi and the others all come filing out from the backstage area.  She’s walking on cloud nine but I see her eyes dart around the room, looking for him and waiting for him to appear out of nowhere.

“He left,” I lean in to tell her just before I kiss her cheek.  “You were great, as usual, baby.”

She smiles and puts her arms around my waist to hug me.  “Thank you.  And thank you for waiting here for me,” gesturing towards the backstage door.

“Well, he was watching it pretty intently.  I wasn’t about to let him get through it.”

She nods in understanding and looks at the other girls.  After a round of introductions, we’re all back at our usual table with Shane, Will,
Brandon, Christina, Tania and Katie.  I look around the table and realize how blessed I am to have such a great group of friends and family.

I take Andi’s hand in mine and raise it to my mouth, kissing each of her knuckles softly.  She was in midsentence conversation with someone when she looks at me, confusion etched in her beautiful face.

“What was that for?”

“Because I love you, Andi Morgan,” I answer. 

She doesn’t smile in response this time.  In fact, she has a very serious look.  She suddenly leans towards me and covers my mouth with hers, her free hand wraps around my neck and pulls me closer to her.  Since she started it, I’m more than happy to oblige her, so I wrap my arms around her and hoist her over the chair and into my lap.  Once she’s reseated, I put my hands on either side of her face as I kiss her back.

“Get a room, already!”  Someone from our table shouts.  I’m pretty sure it was Brandon.  He’s still a little jealous that Andi’s mine.
  Andi breaks our kiss and laughs while throwing a wadded up napkin in his general direction.

“Dance with me,” I say as I incline my head towards the dance floor.  She nods and we push through the throngs of people to the dance floor.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a slow song or a fast song.  All I want is to hold Andi in my arms – we move to the beat of our own music.

ANDI

What a great night!  Tonight went far better than I thought it could.  I have the hottest man on the planet, we’re getting married…
um, eventually.  I’ve been reacquainted with Maria and she doesn’t hate me, plus I’ve met several more courageous young women that I’m proud to call my friends.

Luke is driving us home now and even this feels good. It feels right – holding his hand, seeing him raise my hand to his mouth and gently kiss it before
he secures it back in his hand, and knowing that we’re going to our
home
.  Home is where the heart is, they say.  My heart belongs to this wonderful, sexy manly-man beside me.  I don’t care where we live as long as I’m with him.

Finally home, Luke goes inside first, as always, to make sure it’s safe for me to enter.  It really is the small things that end up mattering the most.  It is the small things that make up everyday life together. 
Even just the fact that he cares about my safety enough to enter the dark house first time after time melts me every time.  Everything he does for me is out of love and I can’t imagine my life without him now.

I follow him towards the kitchen and we purposely keep the lights low.  It’s finally just the two of us again and I’m looking forward to it.  Luke opens a bottle of wine and pours two glasses.  He hands my glass to me and holds his up in a toast.